1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates generally to vehicle clutch assemblies, and more particularly to ring gear assemblies including a ring gear carrier fixedly attached to a separate bearing seat and to their methods of construction.
2. Related Art
This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
It is known to construct a clutch ring gear assembly for a transmission clutch assembly, wherein the clutch ring gear assembly includes a ring gear carrier fixedly attached to a separate bearing seat, also referred to as a bearing hub or simply hub. One known mechanism employed for fixedly attaching a ring gear carrier to a bearing seat includes welding the ring gear carrier to the bearing seat. However, welding can be costly, and further yet, a weld joint formed thereby results in hardened heat-affected zones, thereby impacting the material properties of the separate components in ways unintended, and can further result in heat distortion of parts and contamination from splatter. Another known mechanism employed for fixedly attaching a ring gear carrier to a bearing seat includes using a spline and snap ring arrangement; however, this increases the complexity of the assembly, increases the number of component parts required, increases the cost associated with assembly, and requires an undesirable increase in the axial space or envelop of the assembly. Yet another known mechanism employed for fixedly attaching a ring gear carrier to a bearing seat is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 9,022,196, wherein a plurality of circumferentially aligned and enclosed rectilinear slots are formed in a ring gear, with the increased length of the slot extending circumferentially and the decreased width extending radially, and a corresponding plurality of solid protrusions, having a similar rectilinear shape as the rectilinear slots, on a bearing seat are fixed within the slots. The protrusions are formed to extend from the bearing seat for receipt in the rectilinear slots, whereupon ends of the protrusions are punched by an anvil to form circumferentially extending grooves in the ends of the protrusions, causing material of the protrusions to be displaced to form radially outwardly and inwardly extending segments. However, due to the configurations of the slots, the protrusions, and the resulting assembly, problems exist, namely, the process associated with the manufacture of the rectilinear slots is complex, both from a tooling and forming extent, and the cost associated with the manufacture is high. Further yet, the grooves formed in the ends of the protrusions form a source for crack propagation, both during manufacture, thereby resulting in scrap, or while in use of the vehicle, thereby resulting in a potential need to service the vehicle.
A clutch ring gear constructed in accordance with the invention addresses at least those problems discussed above, as well as others that will be readily apparent to those possessing ordinary skill in the art of clutch assemblies.